[NYer]

The 'intercession of the saints' can be a challenging belief for many. It is a contradiction of sorts since we have been taught that Christ died once for all our sins. As we have often seen posted in the forum - "why not pray directly to Jesus"? The response, as we all know, is that we can, of course, pray directly to him. But even the Early Church Fathers recognized that we are members of the Communion of Saints and when you have a 'friend' on high, it doesn't hurt to ask their help. A good example of this, in human terms, would be an individual hoping for a pay raise. Where to begin? The boss, of course! But he reports to someone, higher up the corporate ladder.

To render this in more contemporary terms, let's take a closer look at Philip McCord. Fearful that he faced possible blindness in his right eye, Philip McCord, a Baptist went into the Church of the Immaculate Conception one day and prayed.

Phillip McCord

“I need some help,” he said in his quiet conversation with God in the fall of 2000.

Looking up, he saw a picture of Mother Guerin (now deceased), the foundress of the Sisters of Providence at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. He decided to pray to Mother Theodore and ask for her assistance.

“If you see fit and have any influence, maybe you could speak [to God] on my behalf”, he said to her.

McCord had undergone cataract surgery on both eyes that fall, and while the surgery was successful on his left eye, it was not successful for the right eye. He had swelling in his cornea.

He could only see shapes and light with his right eye, which drooped. “It was really not what you would call vision,” he said. It affected his depth perception and gave him headaches.

A specialist in Indianapolis had told him he would need a cornea transplant, which had a 60 percent success rate.

He worried about the risks and feared permanent damage, including possible blindness, in his right eye.

He was upset and afraid. “I was not making a lot of headway in dealing with it,” he said.

One day, when he was returning from a meeting at Providence Center, he heard organ music from the church and decided to go inside and pray.

He told God, “I try not to bother you with a whole lot of things … but I’m not going to get through this. I need some help.”

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This is not some event from the distant past. This is now! The media always love the 'unexplicable' and jumped all over McCord's story. CNN even took it to a new level by producing a mini documentary in which their professional consultants interviewed McCord on videotape, while re-producing the blurred images of McCord prior to the 'intervention' of Mother Theodore.

This is just one of countless miracles attributed to the intervention of those on the path to sainthood and others who have already arrived.

[Enosh]

This is a caucus thread, so if I step out of line, just say and I'll go.

But, this is a fascinating topic for me.

In the article you linked to, Mr. McCord prayed to Mother Guerin only to be later "upset and afraid."

Next, he appealed directly to God, and that worked. ("He told God, ...")

Friend, I cannot dispute that a miracle occurred, I only question the chain of command.

[Mad Dawg]

Heavenly Father,
By the intercession of John Paul, I beg you to heal Carolyn, my mother-in-law, from the scourge of Parkinson's disease.

Comforted by the courageous and loving witness of John Paul, and confident that you hear his prayers, I turn to you asking for consolation, faith, and healing for this good and pious woman, knowing that whatever happens you have always known and loved her and chosen the best for her,

I dare to ask this, encouraged by your Son and comforted by the communion of all the saints on earth and in heaven, with those saints and through that glorious Son who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, in everlasting splendor.


(I don't "think about" the intercession of the saints so much as I appeal for it.)